Amid Sam Darnold's success, Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell heaps praise on unsung hero behind his resurgence
The resurgence of quarterback Sam Darnold with the Minnesota Vikings has been nothing short of excellent. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell have built the culture that has influenced his success. Pair that with an elite group of weapons and great coaching and it's culminated in a 9-2 record. Kevin O'Connell gives […]
The resurgence of quarterback Sam Darnold with the Minnesota Vikings has been nothing short of excellent.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell have built the culture that has influenced his success. Pair that with an elite group of weapons and great coaching and it's culminated in a 9-2 record.
Kevin O'Connell gives some credit to Garrett Bradbury for Sam Darnold's success
There are a lot of different factors behind a quarterback having success. From the coaching and play calls to the supporting cast, they are often more successful when those elements are in sync.
One player that often doesn't get enough credit is the center. The Vikings have a talented veteran in Garrett Bradbury and he's been a big factor in Darnold's success, something that O'Connell talked about on Friday.
"Yeah, I think it's important, because that dialog between the center and the quarterback, regardless of how you put together your system, who's responsible for what at the line of scrimmage. To me, that dynamic of collaboration between the center and the quarterback with the play clock going down on the road, crowd noise, all those things, those two positions provide such poise and clarity for the other nine guys in the huddle, either those guys up front, running backs in protection, you know, the timing and rhythm of our past game, the physicality of our run game, the angles, by making sure we're getting to the best play we can when we've got to play on a can or if there's any uncertainty, those guys in their dialect have to resolve that in a very short amount of time. So Garrett, being the high-level player between the ears that he is. I think it does help Sam. I think it's helped him numerous times this year. Make it about Sam doing his job within our offense, and Garrett's huge for that."
What O'Connell talks about here is something that often goes unnoticed or not talked about enough. That relationship between the center and quarterback is huge for getting plays off on the right foot. When there are issues between the quarterback and center, they are felt in droves.
The great communication between the two has been great to see and he's been a value for the Vikings at just $5.25 million average annual value over three years.
Sam Darnold is having a better season than his MVP candidate NFC North counterpart with less recognition
Sam Darnold is playing just as well as an MVP candidate
